According to Bar-Nir, the Tourism Ministry began negotiating the agreement with Hainan after China identified Israel as a preferred tourist destination last June, a move that increased demand for seats on flights between the two nations.

Bar-Nir Noted that the Tourism Ministry asked Israeli carrier El Al to add two additional flights a week to the Israel-Chine route, but the company refused. "It also wants to protect the exclusivity of route, which means keeping prices high," he said.

Bar-Nir explained that this is a harmful policy, which might cause tourists to look over Israel as a vacation destination in the long run. Currently many groups of Chinese tourists find themselves cancelling their trips to Israel because there just aren’t enough seats on flights to accommodate them.

El Al CEO Eliezer Shkedi said during the IMTM tourism exhibition in Tel Aviv this week that the company is negotiating a codeshare agreement with China Airlines, which will allow the two carriers to reach more areas without expanding service by sharing flights.

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